Maintenance Issues
Keep your laptop out of extreme hot and cold temperatures, which could affect the performance of the PC. Clean you PC's case out at least once a year, this will help reduce the chance of over heating and cooling fan failure caused by dust, dander, and pet hair. A good gage is to look at either the back of the system or inside any door that might be on the case, if there is a dust/dirt build up. This can be cleared (outside) with a "Can of Air." Don't want to do it, give me a call and setup a tune-up appointment. Computer Operations Try not to open too many programs while working on your computer. The more things that are open, the slower your system will run. This is true for all manner of computers. Updates to Computer Operating systems are needed to maintain security and to optimize it's operation. Please be wary of the Hardware Updates here (Specifically: video, network cards, modems, and sound cards), they can make your system inoperable!!!! (Personal experience speaking here) Web Browsing To make sure you always get an up to date version of your web pages you'll need to change the default settings of your web browser. Most browsers are set to "cache" the web pages so they can be redisplayed if you "go back" to them. This will speed up the redisplay but NOT update it. To change this, open the browsers Internet Settings panel and change the "Temporary Internet files" setting to "check for updates every time." Hackers One of the big threats today is Hackers. Do you have DSL or Cable Internet? Do you leave your computer on? Both of these things open you up to a Hacker attack. What can you do to prevent an invasion by Hackers? There are 2 things that you can do to prevent attacks: 1 – Turn you computer off. If you prefer to leave your computer on, turn off the Internet Connection. Hackers cannot invade your computer when it is off or the DSL is off. 2 – Install a Firewall. There are many Firewalls available to computer users. Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 has a minor firewall built into its Networking Functions that you can enable. A recommended, because of its ease of use, the Zonelabs (Free & Downloadable) Firewall, “ZoneAlarm.” Panda, McAfee, and Norton also sell Firewalls with their Security Suites. Another good idea to help foil Hackers is a Home Network. Installing a Router in your Home Network puts another layer between you and the Hackers. |
Printers
When you purchase a new printer, read the "QUICK INSTALL" guide and see if you load the software first or plug the printer into the PC first. Doing it in the incorrect order will cause you needless frustration. This is especially true with today's combo Printer/Fax/USB Carder Reader/Copier/Scanner systems. Networking Remember to check the physical connections when troubleshooting flacky network activity. This applies to dial up Internet as well as corporate LAN's. It does not hurt to unplug and then replug cables in to the port, doing this can improve the connection. Virus Issues Anti-virus is a MUST have these days. I personally do not have a preference when it comes the Virus Scanners. The main thing is to ensure they; start with the computer, have an "auto update" feature to stay current, and are setup with all the recommended bells and whistles enabled. Recently, I have spend up to 40% of my time getting rid of Viruses and Malware/Scareware from customer computers. These computers either did NOT have any Anti-virus or it was not current and the systems were open to attack. Some of the recent Viruses have the ability to prevent Anti-virus software from functioning. When this occurs, there are special tools needed to help remove the Virus. If this has happened to you, call me and I can help you recover your system without "starting over" as some other Computer people may recommend. Spy, Ad, and Mal -Ware Today an even more frustrating threat is crippling Microsoft Internet Explorer users, Spyware and it's kindred, Malware and Adware. These small applications and browser plug-ins cause a variety of headaches. They can take over your Home Page, your Favorites, Search Engine choices and to make things worse, they "phone home" with information about your Intenet habits. There are many Malware detectors and removers, some “free” and others that are not. There is even a class of Malware Remover that is in itself a phishing tool that tells you you are infected and asks for payment to remove the malware, the trick is, it infected your computer. Call or email me if you suspect anything suspicious is running on your system. I can come to you and clear these nasties off your PC and setup blocking to inhibit them from returning. |